Kiln Site in Chunghyo-dong, Gwangju

A kiln site in Chunghyo-dong on the northern side of Mudeungsan Mountain, where inlaid celadon (sanggam cheongja), buncheong ware — a grey stoneware coated with white slip — and white porcelain were fired from the late Goryeo period into the early Joseon period. The kiln consists of an entrance through which people passed, a firing chamber where the vessels were placed, and a chimney chamber, forming a series of connected, mound-like structures. Based on records in the Sejong sillok jiriji, the geographical appendix to the Annals of King Sejong, and the dating of excavated relics, the kiln is thought to have begun operating around 1430. Production is believed to have continued for about seventy to eighty years afterwards before ceasing in the early sixteenth century. In the early period only buncheong ware was made; once white porcelain production began the two were made side by side, but as the patterns on the buncheong ware grew coarser its output declined. Meanwhile, as white porcelain began to be produced in earnest, its quality improved and output increased, so that the character of the kiln shifted from a buncheong kiln to a white-porcelain kiln. The white porcelain pieces are mostly small, whereas the buncheong ware includes both large and small pieces in a wide variety of forms — dishes, small bowls, cups, bottles, jars, inkstones and ritual vessels. The patterns most commonly used on the buncheong ware were chrysanthemums, butterflies, fish, crabs and clouds, sometimes combined together. Operated from the late Goryeo period into the early Joseon period, this is an important site that shows the progression from celadon, through buncheong ware, to white porcelain.

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Where it is

Region

Buk-gu, Jeonnam & Gwangju

Designation

Historic Site · 사적